Burdine case goes back to grand jury

FREMONT – A Sandusky County grand jury is expected to reconvene today to continue hearing testimony and reviewing evidence in the case of an Oak Harbor man who died after being arrested in 2007.

Jurors also are scheduled to meet again on Thursday regarding the death of Craig Burdine, 37, said Lisa Hackley, Ohio Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman.

The jurors are expected to determine whether to charge anyone with a crime related to Burdine’s death. The attorney general’s office has declined to discuss who will testify because grand jury proceedings are secret.

In August 2007, Burdine was arrested on charges of throwing someone in a bonfire at a Fremont home. At the scene and then at the jail, Burdine fought with Fremont police and Sandusky County sheriff’s deputies, causing them to use pepper spray and a stun gun to subdue him.

He stopped breathing at the jail and was taken to Promedica Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Burdine was on meth, marijuana and legally drunk, according to Fremont police reports.

Lucas County Deputy Coroner Dr. Cynthia Beisser determined Burdine’s death was accidental and “caused by acute drug intoxication during an episode of excited delirium,” according to federal court records.

Baden — who was an expert for a lawsuit Burdine filed against Sandusky County and the city of Fremont that was dismissed in 2012 — says Burdine asphyxiated as a result of severe neck compression by officers who were restraining him.